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'You said you'd do WHAT?!'

'I said I'd think about-'

'You're considering it? What the hell is wrong with you?'

'Jane, please. Calm down for a second and let me-'

'No, I won't calm down. You-'

'I can't say no, Jane. My hands are tied. I have to do this.'

'Why?'

'Because I owe her everything.'

Jane looked shocked; she certainly hadn't expected to hear that and from the look on Maura's face, she hadn't intended on disclosing it.

'What are you talking about?'

'Never mind,' Maura said slowly, recovering herself. 'She helped me out when we were younger and I owe her for that. That's all.'

'Surely there's other ways to repay somebody?'

'Well, this is how I'm repaying her.'

'By having her husband's baby?'

'It's their baby, Jane. Her eggs, his sperm, my uterus. They give me the ingredients

and I cook it up for them.'

'Oh, good Lord. Couldn't you do something less risky?'

'Jane, gestational surrogacy is perfectly-'

The detective scoffed. 'Because of course, you know so much about it.'

'Of course I do, I'm a doctor.' Maura replied indignantly. 'Jane, I'm not rushing into this. I've told her I'd take some time to think it through and then I'd come back to her with a decision.'

'You're going to get hurt.'

'No Jane, I'm going to give my friend the most precious gift of all. I don't understand why you're being so harsh.'

'Maybe because I don't want to see you fall apart if something goes wrong. And what about that kid?'

'The child will have two parents who love him or her very much.'

'It's going to grow up not knowing where it came from. I thought you of all people would understand that.'

Maura's jaw dropped. 'I can't believe you.. Jane, my situation was totally different. I was adopted because my biological parents couldn't take care of me. Yes, it was hard and yes, I spent a long time not knowing who I was but this baby won't have that issue. It'll have their DNA, the only difference will be that someone else gave birth to it. They'll still be his biological parents. I can't believe you'd even compare my childhood to that. It's completely different.'

'Yeah, because their parents would actually want them..'

Both Maura and Jane stared at each other in pure shock; neither could believe that Jane had said that.

'Oh, God.. Maura.. I'm so sorry, I-'

Jane didn't get to finish her sentence before Maura turned on her heel and left the room quickly. The dark haired woman could have sworn she heard a small sob as the door slammed shut. She made to follow her friend but footsteps from behind her made her stop.

'Hey, hey, hey! What's with all the yelling and door slamming?' Angela burst into the room, pyjama clad and her hair wrapped in a towel. 'Did you and Maura have a fight?'

Jane nodded and leant against the kitchen worktop, resting her elbows against the cool surface and putting her head in her hands. 'Yeah Ma, we had a fight.'

'Aw, well you'll make up again soon. You always do.'

'Mmm. I'm not sure this is something I can make up for easily.'

'Oh God, what have you done?'

'Oh Ma, I don't want to talk about it.'

'Uh oh.' Angela raised her eyebrows. 'You didn't shoot another one of her relatives, did you baby?'

'Ma!'

'Sorry, had to ask.'

'No, Ma, I didn't shoot anyone. I think that might have gone down better though.'

'That doesn't sound good.'

'It's not,' Jane said, sighing. 'I told her that her parents didn't want her.'

'Oh..'

Maura laid on her side, hugging her pillow close to her. She and Jane had had several fights in her time as friends, but Jane had never said anything like that to her before. She knew how sensitive Maura was when it came to discussing her childhood. How could she have said that? The honey blonde sighed and let a tiny tear escape from her eye but she wiped it on her pillow. She would not cry, no way. She would go downstairs in a while, she'd try and make things right with Jane and she'd have a civilised conversation about her dilemma. Hopefully.

She rolled onto her back and looked down at her toned stomach. A part of her panicked at the thought of her stomach growing and getting.. She could hardly think the word.. Fat. Just thinking it made her wince. Maura had always been slim and it felt strange to imagine what her body could look like in a few months. Cellulite, stretch marks.. She shuddered. She knew in detail about the effects of pregnancy on the body, both during and after, and she knew about the process the three would have to undergo to impregnate her. If she decided to do it, of course. She couldn't see a reason, on the surface, why she couldn't. She was in good health and she had an excellent support network. She had Cassandra and James, Angela, Jane..

Maura threw her pillow across the room and closed her eyes, moving back onto her side and curling up into a ball. She was drained; physically, mentally and emotionally. Her head was pounding and her mind was torn between her argument with Jane and her dilemma with Cassandra. She couldn't please everybody, she knew that. Although most of the time, in her mind, she felt more like she couldn't please anybody.

Her mind was churning. There was so much to think about, so much to take in and so many decisions. One voice in her head told her to call Cassandra and say yes, another told her to say no, one told her to go and hug Jane and make it all okay and a tiny voice told her to never speak to Jane again. The voices merged into an unbearable buzzing; the pain in her head was increasing and every part of her body was screaming at her to get some rest. But she couldn't, not yet.

Maura Isles had never felt so conflicted in her life.

'Hang on.. Let me get this straight.. You went off on one at her because she told you she was going to have her friend's baby?'

Jane rolled her eyes. Her mother always phrased things so well. 'Pretty much, yeah.'

'And you didn't give any indication that you'd support her or be there for her?'

'No, I didn't.'

Angela shook her head. 'You're an idiot.'

'Thanks Ma, I love you too.'

'Janie, come on, why would you say something like that to her? She's done nothing wrong. Okay, I know it's strange and of course I'm worried, but.. All she's trying to do is help out her friend.'

'I know, but what if she gets hurt? Seriously Ma, you really think she's going to be

happy to let that baby go to someone else after she's carried it for nine months?'

Her mother sighed and patted her daughter's shoulder. 'Maybe you should go ask Maura that.'

'Huh? No, Ma, come on. It's barely been fifteen minutes. I should give her time to

cool off.'

'Jane Rizzoli, you march yourself upstairs now and you apologise to your best friend. I understand how you feel, Janie, but she needs your help right now and if you're not there for her in the time when she needs you the most, you're going to feel awful later. Now do as you're told.'

Jane mock saluted her mother before heading up the stairs to Maura's room. The climb up those stairs had never felt so long to her. She paused outside, took a deep breath, and prepared herself to face the wrath she expected to lie on the other side of the door.